Erdoğan's Blackmail Diplomacy

January 9, 2024
by Haşim Tekineş, published on 9 January 2024
Erdoğan's Blackmail Diplomacy

Erdogan's blackmailing diplomacy led to a loss of credibility and a lack of trust about Turkey. While Turkey's demands were mostly rejected, it eventually gave up its leverage occasionally with modest gains. However, Ankara could have achieved these modest gains through friendly relations without harming Turkey's diplomatic posture. This harmful and useless tactic has also caused some strategic losses. Turkey's allies are more reluctant to provide strategic weapons. To decrease its reliance on Turkey, the US hedges its strategic partnership by investing in Greece and other regional actors. We here collected some samples of Turkey's blackmailing diplomacy and its consequences.

After nearly a 2-year veto, Turkey has finally lifted its opposition to Sweden's NATO membership. The question remains: What did Turkey gain from this steadfastness? President Biden sent a letter to Congress endorsing the sale of F-16s to Turkey. Yet, President Erdogan had already indicated in October 2021 that President Biden viewed the sale favorably. Ultimately, Turkish diplomacy has circled back to its starting point, with the fate of the F-16 sale now in the hands of President Biden's goodwill and the US Congress. The erosion of trust among its allies remains a challenge for Turkey. Thus far, the strategy of diplomatic pressure has yielded little for Turkey.

You may also like

Erdoğan'ın Körfez Ziyareti

July 20, 2023
by Haşim Tekineş and Ömer Güler, published on 20 July 2023
'Dışı İçi Bir'de bu hafta Ömer Güler ve Haşim Tekineş Erdoğan'ın Körfez ziyaretini ele aldılar.

Dış Politikada Bu Hafta: NATO Zirvesi'nde Ne Verdik Ne Aldık?

July 13, 2023
by Haşim Tekineş and Ömer Güler, 13 July 2023
Ömer Güler ve Haşim Tekineş başta Vilnius'ta yapılan NATO Zirvesi'ne ve Türkiye'nin Norveç'in NATO üyeliğine yeşil ışık yakmasına ilişkin olmak üzere bu haftaki dış politika gündemlerini değerlendirdiler.

Future Relations of Turkey and Greece: Allies and Rivals

June 15, 2023
by Haşim Tekineş, published on 15 June 2023
instituDE member Haşim Tekineş hosted in #PolicyTalks Dr. Spyros Katsoulas, strategic historian at Institute of International Relations (IDIS) in Athens. They discussed the future of relations Turkey and Greece, which are allies and rivals of each other at the same time.